Where Are You Going
by Lucretia Boresya
Summary: Everyone is acting strangely. Helga is missing. Brainy discovers something terrible... Curly/Rhonda-ness on the side... maybe some Helga/Arnold, who knows? R&R!
1. Something Missing

******Arg, I gotta write it all again!! I don't feel like it!!! Stoopid computer.. ******  
  
******Its another story I started and never posted.******  
  
  
  
Where Are You Going  
  
By Tano  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: IM TOO TIRED TO SAY I DON'T OWN HEY ARNOLD!!!!!  
  
  
  
Nano Prologue (Isn't that a cool thing I jest made up??)  
  
Life is fragile. They should put a big sticker on it that says, "THIS SIDE UP." Seems it's always being turned upside down. Your life could be going great, when something unexpected happens, and POW! You find yourself headfirst in a toilet, FLUSH! (figuratively speaking, of course, although that has been known to happen...)  
  
Whether you realize it or not, the people you come into contact with on a daily basis make a difference in your life, no matter how insignificant they may seem. Sometimes you don't know how much someone means to you until they're gone.  
  
  
  
An ordinary day of fourth grade. Mr. Simmons stood at the front of the class, yakking away about something or other. Hardly anyone really paid attention to his "special" lectures, especially not on a Friday morning. There was nothing he could do about it. If his class didn't want to listen, he could only pray that SOMEONE was paying attention. He hated to punish his students, although a punishment every once in a while was exactly what the children needed. Yes, a normal day. At least it seemed that way...  
  
Curly softly hummed an Avril Lavigne song (Ordinary) to himself as he doodled on his desk with a red dry erase marker he had stolen from the teachers' desk. Or at least, that was what it would look like to any simple-minded mortal passing by. In actuality, Curly was drawing up his plans to take over the school again. He cackled evilly. First P.S. 118, then the City Zoo, and then THE WORLD! Yes... by now everyone was staring at him, and he stopped laughing. Fools! Mock Thaddeus Curly Gamelthorpe, will they? They were all in for a rude awakening. When he ruled the school, he would keep all the tapioca and lemon pudding to himself! That would show them! And then Cable Television would be his! Mwahahahaha...  
  
"Geek." Rhonda muttered and then squealed in disgust as Curly blew her a kiss. How she was able to keep her status as a "cool kid" when this psycho liked her, she did not now. She shuddered; she could still remember what had happened when, under Helga's influence, she had admitted to writing the little weirdo that secret admirer letter. He had kissed her on the lips in front of EVERYONE. She shuddered again, not sure which was worse: The fact that Curly Gamelthorpe had kissed her, or that deep down she had LIKED it. No way. There was absolutely NO WAY she would ever, EVER, like that little freak. She wouldn't allow herself to.  
  
"Hey, baby." Curly said in a sing-song way, "You look cold... Come over here, Curly'll warm you up."  
  
"EWW!" Rhonda sank down in her seat and looked over at the clock on the wall above the doorway. 9:47a.m. Her life was officially over. Damn that Helga Pataki; this was all her fault.  
  
  
  
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Harold was bored and extremely hungry. Not to mention, he was STARVING! He'd only had a single bowl of cereal for breakfast that morning! Sooooo hungry...  
  
Sid was sitting at the desk beside Harold's. The night before he hadn't had any sleep at all, afraid that there was a Vampire in the bathroom. He had sat up all night, that rubber dagger in his hand, big bags forming under his eyes as he waited for the undead, bloodsucking freak to finish using the john and come out. Eventually he had dozed off but only in time to get about an hours worth of sleep. Now he was falling asleep again, his head bobbing up and down as he started to lose conciousness. Twice he nearly fell out of his chair, but went back to sleep again.  
  
"Sid!" Harold whispered, "SID!!!"  
  
Sid's eyes practically popped out of his head and he fell to the floor, "ACK! IM AWAKW!!!! Back off, Vampires, you'll never get MY blood!" e screamed and jumped back into his chair. "Woah, my head... where's the Vampire?" he had gotten up to fast and felt dizzy.  
  
Stinky looked up, "Sid, I told ya, I ain't a Vampire, I'm a psychic! Them's two enturly dif'rent concepts!"  
  
Sid yawned and his head hit the desk with a loud thump.  
  
"Siiiid!" Harold whined.  
  
The exhausted boy lifted his head and looked over at Harold, who suddenly had a twin. "What, Harold?" he asked irritably, looking not at Harold, but at the identical person beside him.  
  
Harold noticed that Sid was looking past him and waved a hand in front of the confused boy's face, "Um, Sid? I'm right here."  
  
Sid blinked, "Ow, my he-e-ead!" he cried out  
  
"Sid, you got anything to eat?" Harold asked, ignoring his friend's moans.  
  
"No! Leave me alone!" Sid whined. He hid under his desk and fell asleep, curled up in a little ball on the floor.  
  
Harold looked over at Stinky, a couple of seats over.  
  
Stinky was now staring at a wall, blank as a washed chalkboard.  
  
"Stinky!"  
  
It took a moment, but Stinky finally looked over at Harold. "Yeah? Whaddya want, Harold? I'm meditatin' here! I almost had A VISION, but you went and interrupted the dang thing!"  
  
"You got anything to eat?" Harold asked, not bothering to apologize to Stinky.  
  
"What? N-no!" Stinky stutter, "I reckon I ain't got nothing for ya! No lemon puddin today! N-No siree, no lemon puddin here!"  
  
"Im SOOOO HUNGRY!" Harold whined so loudly, the entire class heard. He hardly noticed that he didn't hear, "So what else is new?" or any other sarcastic remarks.  
  
"Here, Harold." Arnold said, tossing the starving boy a Mr. Nutty from his lunch.  
  
"Thanks, Arnold!" Harold said as he wolfed the entire thing down in one bite.  
  
Arnold shrugged and looked back to the front of the classroom. There she was... Lila... he sighed. She was the prettiest, nicest girl in the class, maybe even the entire school. And one of the only people still paying attention to Mr. Simmons.  
  
Lila giggled, "Oh, that's EVER so fascinating, Mr. Simmons!"  
  
Arnold saw the teacher's face light up, "Why thank you Lila! How very "special" of you to say so!"  
  
Arnold sighed again. If only Lila were talking to HIM instead of Mr. Simmons. Why didn't she like-him-like-him? It didn't make sense. He was the nicest guy in school, wasn't he? Well, he tried to be. Why didn't Lila notice? Why couldn't she understand how much he like-liked her? Why couldn't she feel the same way? He and Lila were perfect for one another and she was the only one who didn't see it.  
  
Suddenly, he cringed. Hmm... what was that for? When he figured out why, he realized he hadn't had a reason to. No spit wads hit him in the head. No nothing. He turned around and saw an empty seat near the back of the classroom. Where was Helga?  
  
  
  
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Brainy sat in the very last seat in the back of the classroom. He liked that seat for a couple of reason. First, it was the least noticeable. There was very little chance that anyone would see him back there. The teacher wouldn't call on him, the other kids wouldn't bother him. The second and most important reason he liked sitting there: It was the desk right behind Helga Pataki's.  
  
This morning he was shaking. Something was wrong and he knew exactly what. Helga was gone. What scared him most was he had absolutely NO IDEA where she was. That was an impossibility to say the least. He ALWAYS knew where Helga was. If she was on vacation, sick, had slept in, etc., he would know. He didn't know today. It terrified him. What if something had happened to Helga? Something horrible? He felt sick. He wanted to leave so he could go find Helga, but in order to do that he would have to ask Mr. Simmons to let him go to the nurse. Brainy didn't want to call attention to himself. People would ask questions and he wasn't prepared to provide answers.  
  
He finally just punched himself in the face, and that was that. No one noticed. No one cared. No one ever did. And maybe that was a good thing.  
  
  
  
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Phoebe anxiously watched the door for some movement. Please, please, please... Let Helga be alright. Where was she? She hadn't been at the bus stop that morning and she never called Phoebe to tell her she was going to be late or was sick and needed her homework brought over that afternoon. Helga ALWAYS called when she wasn't going to be there.  
  
Helga... come to school! She concentrated on this one thought, this mental mantra repeating over and over in her head as she watched the door. A sad, desperate attempt to communicate with her friend telepathically... if only such a thing existed. After a while she was mouthing the words. Helga.... Come to school... Helga... Come to school... Helga...  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment. This wasn't working. Helga couldn't hear her. It was foolish to think otherwise.  
  
Not wanting to think the worst, Phoebe decided that Helga had only slept in that morning. Helga was ok, she told herself. She would go down to the Pataki residence after school, and Helga would be there. All would be well.  
  
"Pheobe?" she opened her eyes.  
  
"Hello Gerald." she greeted him softly.  
  
Gerald slid his desk closer to hers. Looking Phoebe straight in the eyes, he asked her, "Are you ok?"  
  
Phoebe sighed a long, shuddery sigh (much like one would do when they have been crying a long time). She looked down. Something about seeing Gerald so worried about her made her feel worse. "Not really." she responded and then explained the cause of her distress.  
  
When she finished, Gerald gave her a sort of... pitying look, "Phoebes," he said slowly and carefully, not wanting to hurt her feelings, "It's only Helga. I don't understand why you're so worried, just because she didn't call you..."  
  
"She always calls me! And why shouldn't I worry? She's my best friend!"  
  
The bell rang and everyone jumped out of their seats to go to lunch.  
  
"Yeah." Gerald said, "I don't understand THAT either."  
  
But instead of continuing the conversation about Helga, he started a new one and they went to the cafeteria. He didn't want to hurt Phoebe anymore than he probably had, despite his feelings about Helga. He would try to understand; he would do anything for Phoebe.  
  
  
  
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Lila exited the lunch line, holding her lunch tray carefully out in front of her. She looked around for an empty seat. Someone called her name and she looked over to see Rhonda, Sheena, Nadine and Katrinka sitting at a table. Lila pretended not to notice them at first. She didn't feel like sitting with a bunch of giggling, gossipy girls today.  
  
"Hey LILA!" oops, she looked again. Was there no escape? She put on her sweetest smile and walked over.  
  
"Oh, hello Lila! Take my seat!" Sheena stood up enthusiastically offering her chair.  
  
"It's ever so nice of you to offer your seat, Sheena, bur I'm perfectly alright..."  
  
"Nonsense, Lila! You sit down, I'll be fine! Right here, on the floor!" the taller girl practically pushed Lila into the chair and sat on the floor by her feet.  
  
As soon as Lila was sitting down, the girls started up their conversation once more.  
  
"Someone isn't here today!" Rhonda sang happily.  
  
"Who?" Nadine asked.  
  
"HONESTLY, Nadine, how could possibly NOT know? Where have you BEEN? You certainly couldn't have been HERE. Haven't you noticed how QUIET it has ben today?"  
  
"Not with you around." Lila muttered.  
  
"No?" Nadine replied, uncertainly, "Who isn't here today?"  
  
"Helga, of course!"  
  
"Oh." Nadine said.  
  
"Is that all?" Lila asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as she was.  
  
"Not at all." Rhonda gestured towards another table where Arnold sat, staring at his tater tots. "Arnold sure is distracted today." she pointed out. "He hasn't talked to you all day, has he Lila?"  
  
"Now that you mention it, RHONDA," her voice turned harsh on Rhonda's name, but returned to its normal sugarcoated sweetness once more, "I'm ever so sure e hasn't spoken to me once all morning." Lila was normally a patient person, but Rhonda was getting to her that day.  
  
"Do you think it had anything to do with Helga?" Nadine asked.  
  
"Mhhmmm." Rhonda agreed as she popped one of Lila's tater tots into her mouth.  
  
"Now, whyever would it have anything to do with Helga?" Lila asked as she slowly pulled her lunch tray out of Rhonda's range.  
  
"Well, I don't know about YOU, ladies, but I've always had a feeling that those two liked each other."  
  
"Arnold likes Helga?" Sheena squeaked from her position on the floor. She and the other girls were more surprised that Arnold would like Helga than visa versa.  
  
Rhonda nodded.  
  
"But, doesn't he like-like Lila?" Katrinka wondered, speaking up for the first time in the entire conversation.  
  
Lila looked at Rhonda with interest. Where was she going with all of this?  
  
Rhonda smiled menacingly, "I think Arnold like-likes Helga more than he like-likes YOU, Lila dear."  
  
"But how?" Nadine wondered.  
  
Rhonda rolled her eyes, "You've seen how Helga treats him. And what does he do to her?"  
  
"Nothing?"  
  
"Exactly! Arnold doesn't do a thing to get back at her. He just says, 'whatever you say, Helga.' and lets her walk all over him! And have you SEEN the way he looks at her?"  
  
"But Arnold's too nice to get back at anyone." Nadine pointed out.  
  
"He could if he wanted to. Remember that time he came to school and started shoving kids into lockers?"  
  
Nadine nodded and said nothing more.  
  
"Well, what about ME?" Lila challenged, "If Arnold Like-likes Helga then whayever would he follow me around saying he like-likes ME?"  
  
Rhonda of course, had all the answers, "It's pretty simple. Wait, no it's needlessly complicated. But anyway, it isn't so hard to figure out. I'm sorry to say, Arnold is one of the densest kids I have ever met. He can't even tell that Helga like-likes him, even though it is so COMPLETELY obvious!"  
  
"It is?" Katrinka asked.  
  
"You mean you didn't know?" Rhonda was amazed at how oblivious her peers were.  
  
The girls all shook their heads, except Lila.  
  
"Really? But how could you NOT know? She always treats Arnold like dirt, abusing him with her insults. Helga picks on Arnold more than anyone else, and he never does anything wrong. But here's a question: Have you ever seen her physically hurt him? I mean, besides tripping him or throwing spit wads at him."  
  
The girls all shook their heads.  
  
"I thought not. And do you know why? It's because she CAN'T. She's beaten up every boy in our grade at least once, all except for Arnold. She just can't bring herself to hurt him. See, to Helga, hurting Arnold would be like hurting herself, and Helga couldn't stand to do that."  
  
"She likes him that much?" Sheena said in disbelief.  
  
"I know, it's sad, isn't it?" Rhonda laughed, "And that's not the worst thing! Did you know that Helga follows him around? I've seen her do it, she's always 'bumping into him'. It's HILARIOUS, because whenever she does, she yells at HIM for following HER!" she laughed again, "And poor dense little Arnold doesn't have a clue. He doesn't realize that she loves him."  
  
"She loves him?"  
  
"She's OBSESSED." Rhonda replied, "Anyway, the boy's an idiot. I of course blame Helga's attitude. She's so mean to him. And Arnold, being the nice guy he is, thinks he should like someone who is like him. Someone nice and sweet and perfect."  
  
"In other words, me." Lila said. She hated being "perfect", but that was what she was to these people. Why disappoint them.  
  
"Yes you, Lila, are exactly what Arnold THINKS he wants, but in reality he like-likes Helga, your complete OPPOSITE, as well as his. You know, opposites attract and all. You see?"  
  
Lila tried not to laugh. It was amusing that Rhonda knew all these things. She never would have imagined that the fashion princess of the fourth grade could be so intelligent.  
  
Rhonda continued, "I played a little trick on Arnold. Remember when I had my Origami Marriage Predictor? Well, I had one for Arnold so he'd ONLY GET HELGA! It was so funny; he was so terrified at the idea of being married to her, and he kept taking it over and over and over hoping it wasn't true. I had to try so hard to keep a straight face."  
  
"Rhonda that was mean." Nadine and the other girls all giggled and headed off to the playground, except for Lila who stayed behind.  
  
  
  
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Out on the playground one could find Arnold sitting in a swing, rocking slowly from side to side as he stared at the clouds above. For some reason he felt empty that day. Something was missing, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what. It was something important; he could tell by how hopeless he felt. It was kind of the way he felt every year on the anniversary of his parents' disappearance.  
  
It had been too quiet a day. He couldn't think straight. He only drifted through his confused thoughts, trying to figure out what was wrong.  
  
It was a beautiful day, despite his confusion. The sky was blue, except for the few clouds floating around here and there. He could have sworn that the rest of the clouds were somehow inside his head, clogging up his brain. In his head, it was foggy, raining and miserable. If only he could figure out what was wrong, maybe the clouds would go away, go back to the sky where they belonged.  
  
If only life could make sense.  
  
  
  
******Ok, the longest chapper of anything I have ever written. I would have written more, but this was where I stopped. And so I will stop here.******  
  
******Where is Helga? You might find out next chapper, if you review.******  
  
****** I will try to update soon, but my parents are locking up the basement. They say I am online too much. What do they know? Anyhoo, I will try.******  
  
******I like this story, please review!!!******  
  
*****REVIEW****** 


	2. Not Right At All

******Eck, its Valentine's Day today! THE DAY OF EVIL!!! Love is evil. Yes, I know, all of you are sayin to yourselves "if Tano wasn't such a loser and would just go out and get a boyfriend, she wouldn't be saying that." Well, I got something to tell YOU. LOVE IS EVIL! (besides, no one in their right minds would like me... does anyone know any insane guys? Insane, blind guys?) IT IS AS EVIL AS um- DONUTS!!!!!!******  
  
******Ugh. I think I might be anemic. Oh well, there was bound to be SOMETHING wrong with me besides insanity, right?******  
  
******AND THE EVIL GUIDANCE COUNSELORS THINK IM ANOREXIC!!! Arg, adults can be such IDIOTS! I like to eat, but the food doesn't like me! IS THAT MY FAULT????******  
  
******Sorry, I know you don care about these things. I jest had to whine today. After all, this is the day of evil.******  
  
******I have issues. I should wear my Spongebob hat that says "I Have Issues!!!" on it. Then people could tell right away that I have issues. Wait, they can already tell?? Then why in the heck did I spend 5 bucks on this hat??? *eats it* ******  
Where Are You Going, ch 2  
  
By Tano, who still doesn't own a monkey, but when she does she will either name it Noodles or Jonathan, and dress it up as El Presidente and parade it around a Seven Eleven  
Disclaimer: I like these things. They are fun cuz I can say em however I want which is why I write em as often as I can. Heck, if it weren't for all the threats I've been getting from the Monkeeys inside my head (they're gonna kill us all! SAVE ME!!!), I would write two, maybe even THREE every chapper! But they continue to threaten, so I wont. What was I talkin about again? Oh yes. Donuts! Donuts are very good, unless you are a sprinkle; then they mean certain death! Or a bad sunburn. *is hit in the head with a turtle* OWWWWW!!!! Wait, oh ya! I DON'T OWN HEY ARNOLD, CUZ IF I DID, I WOULD BE DA BEST CRAIG BARTLETT EVA!!!!!!!!!! *evil laugh, flies away on her Pteradactyl*  
Step Two: Make Rhonda fall in love with him. That shouldn't be too hard. After all, he WAS the hottest guy in the fourth grade. Curly grinned. Yes, soon Rhonda would be his, and then there were only 298 steps left until he was King of the Pastries-I mean, world.  
  
He saw Rhonda out on the playground, talking to Nadine.  
  
"And she was wearing GRAY shoes! Can you believe that? Ew!" Rhonda announced. Nadine said nothing. She seemed to be looking at something else in the distance.  
  
Curly silently crept up beside Rhonda and tapped her on the shoulder. Rhonda turned and began screeching when she realized he had touched her.  
  
Oh yeah, she digs me. Curly grinned.  
  
"EW, CURLY!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!" Rhonda screamed.  
  
"Oh come on, Rhonda! You know you want me!"  
  
"Get away from me, you little FREAK!"  
  
Nadine nudged him, "I think she DOES like you." she whispered as Rhonda continued to scream, "But don't tell Rhonda I told you that."  
  
Curly suddenly hugged Rhonda, and her eyes became as wide as hubcaps, before she began yelling unintelligibly once more.  
  
"Come Rhonda! Be my queen! I will give you all that you desire!" Curly shouted above the girl's screams. "Anything you want will be yours, my dear!"  
  
Normally, Rhonda liked to have whatever she wanted, but Curly was TOUCHING her. She shouted some more.  
  
"GO AWAY!!! I HATE YOU!!!" Somehow these words came out. Rhonda, apon realizing what she had said, immediately shut her mouth (a first in Rhonda History). That wasn't supposed to happen.  
  
Curly let go, and walked away sadly, his head down. Step two was a failure. He would never take over the school without his queen. Another failure. Life- 6, Curly- 0.  
  
Rhonda suddenly felt extremely guilty. She hadn't meant to say that. It was a lie! She SO did not hate him... why did she have to say that? She watched Curly walk away. He looked so... miserable. Could it be? Could Curly actually have FEELINGS? No way. Ugh, why did she have to say that? She felt so bad! No, Rhonda. You will not feel sad for that little psychotic. Still... ugh, her life really WAS over.  
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Now Harold was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Recess was almost over and he hadn't done anything. There wasn't anything to do. Today was just boring. There was no one to talk to. Sid was hiding from something or other, Stinky was meditating again. Everyone else seemed too busy to notice him. There was no one to make fun of, no one to annoy, no one to talk to. Hmm. Where was Helga? She'd always found some joy in yelling at him. He would have liked to fight with her today. There was nothing better to do. But it seemed she wasn't there today.  
  
The bell rang and he headed inside. .  
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Lila sat at her desk in Mr. Simmons' class. She watched the door. Harold walked in first. Then Gerald and a distressed Phoebe. Then Nadine and Rhonda. Followed by Stinky and Sid. Last came an unusually normal seeming Curly. Arnold didn't come in at all. Was he still outside? Without a word to anyone, Lila walked back out of the classroom and headed for the door.  
  
"Young lady?" a voice stopped her.  
  
She yanked a green bow from one of her pigtails and spun around quickly, "Yes, Principal Wartz?" she said in her sweetest tone, smiling innocently at him.  
  
"Where are you going? Did I not hear the bell ring? Shouldn't you be in class?" Ugh, so many questions to ask the same thing. He knew the answers, couldn't he just say "get back to class."?  
  
"I'm ever so sorry sir, but you see," she pointed to the bowless reddish braid that was slowly starting to unravel, "I believe I left one of my ribbons on the playground, and I was hoping that I could run out there and get it. It is my very favorite-est one, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost it."  
  
Principal Wartz, unusually gullible and trusting that day, smiled, "Of course, we wouldn't want you to lose your pretty ribbon. But hurry."  
  
"Thank you ever so much, sir." Lila sort of curtsied and ran out the double doors to the playground.  
  
Arnold still sat alone on the swings. He hadn't even notice that no one else was on the playground with him. He was still lost in his own confusing little world. Lila sat in the swing beside him. "Arnold?" she said softly, not wanting to surprise him or anything.  
  
Arnold didn't look at her. He just continued to swing slightly from side to side.  
  
"Arnold I-"  
  
"Lila, don't talk to me. I don't want to hear about how you don't like-like me." he muttered.  
  
"That's not what I wanted to say."  
  
"What then?"  
  
"I wanted to ask if you were alright." Lila said, "Recess was over a while ago."  
  
"Was it?" Arnold said absently.  
  
"So, are you feeling alright?"  
  
Arnold shrugged, "I don't know anything."  
  
"I'm sure she's ok." Lila blurted, "She's ever so strong. She can probably handle anything. I don't think you need to worry."  
  
"Worry about what? I'm not worried about anything." Arnold still said this as though he didn't care.  
  
Liar. "Arnold, she'll be ok."  
  
"What are you talking about? You don't know what's wrong with me! Where do you come off saying things like that?" Arnold shouted and glared at her.  
  
"You don't have to be so very MEAN!" Lila replied in the same harsh tone Arnold had used. "I'm only trying to make you feel better!"  
  
"Well DON'T! You don't know ANYTHING!"  
  
"I know more than YOU do!" Lila said and pushed the swing she had been sitting on as far behind her as she could. It swung over the bar and hung a foot higher off of the ground than it had been. Lila ran away, furious with Arnold.  
  
Arnold glared after her.  
  
Then he was alone again.  
  
Good riddance. He wanted to be alone. He didn't need anyone.  
  
But he was missing class. Oh who cared about class. They didn't even notice he was outside. He could go home if he wanted to. He could just get up and leave.  
  
So he did.  
  
He opened the door, stepped over his Grandma's stampeding pets.  
  
His Grandpa saw him come in, "Arnold, you're home early." he said.  
  
Arnold ignored him and stomped up to his bedroom in the attic. He slammed the door shut and lay on his bed. What was wrong with him?  
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Brainy found himself awake again. Where was he now? Ugh, his head hurt. He sat up and looked around. But his glasses were now just shards of glass, barely holding together in the bent frames. Everything looked distorted. So he removed his broken glasses, and from his pocket, pulled out a green glasses case. He opened the case, removed the good pair that was inside, and replaced them with his newly broken ones. Then he stuffed the case back into his pocket. Now he could see.  
  
He looked around again. He was under his desk. What time was it? He checked the clock on the far wall. He had missed lunch and recess. Of course, no one had noticed him as he had lain on the floor, unconscious for more than an hour. Perhaps it was his fault. He never went out of his way to even try to make one friend (although he had for a brief period of time tried being Harold's sidekick, but found it was too much work and took too much time out of his Helga watching). Maybe they just didn't remember he existed? Maybe.  
  
Something about the class had changed since he had knocked himself out. Something... what was it?  
  
Phoebe still looked very worried. Gerald was still trying to comfort her. That hadn't changed.  
  
Sid was still trying to take a nap. Stinky was still trying to have his "VISION". Harold, though, seemed a bit preoccupied with something. Was he thinking? An odd thing for Harold to be doing, Brainy thought.  
  
That wasn't the only thing different, he noticed. Rhonda was staring at Curly. She had this terribly sad look in her eyes, as though she would burst into tears at any moment. That was very strange. But Rhonda's behavior was not as strange as Curly's. Curly was acting... normal. Well, perhaps more depressed than normal, but whatever it was it was not normal for CURLY. He wasn't doing ANYTHING. He ignored Rhonda's gaze put his head down and stayed still. His arms hung down under the desk. He wasn't plotting, scheming or thinking about anything at all. Still, it was very hard to tell what was exactly going on in that insane mind of Curly's. You never could see past the thick glasses.  
  
This wasn't right.  
  
He looked up to where Lila sat. She was re-braiding her hair, and glaring angrily at anyone who looked at her funny. Ok, that was VERY wrong. Lila never acted that way. She always smiled. Was always sweet. Now she was acting like... Helga.  
  
This wasn't right, not at all.  
******Ok, much shorter than the last, but I'm tired. *snork* not too many people reviewed. I hope more do soon!!!! ******  
  
******Please review!!!!!****** 


	3. Who Would Do This?

******Ok, here's chapper 3, hooray for me! I haven't had much inspiration to write lately, but I'm trying! You guys who like my insanity, go to my diary thing at - bin/diary.cgi?a=SoreWaHimitsuDesu (If it doesn't say anything, go to mydeardiary.com and find SoreWaHimitsuDesu. That would be me.) Leave a comment if you can, thanks!******  
  
******Hehe, I made Curly act like Johnny Bravo and then switch to sad. Weird.******  
Where Are You Going, Chapper 3  
  
By Tano  
  
******Disclaimer: Didn't you hear the news? Craig's giving me Hey Arnold for my birthday next month! I know, I am so lucky! *evil laugh* What? No! You can't do this to me!!! I OWN HEY ARNOLD!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! *they take Tano away, haha, to the happy home with all that stuff and the padded walls, and the smiling monkey basketweavers* ******  
  
(We start with a poem, don't ask why)  
  
How do you fix something, when you don't know what's broken?  
  
How do you apologize, when you aren't sure of what you did wrong?  
  
How do you find something, when you don't know where to look?  
  
And everyone is angry, hurt, afraid.  
  
And everyone is left alone and betrayed.  
  
We don't know what to do. Don't know what to say.  
  
So there we sit. We hope, we pray.  
  
"Tomorrow will be a better day"  
  
"Tomorrow things will be ok."  
  
(And it ends here, on to the story *hooray*)  
He reluctantly went to school the next day. Again, he noticed Helga was gone. He was still depressed. He still had no idea. He took his seat and stared up at Lila. She looked different that day. Angrier. Had he caused this?  
  
As Brainy had the day before, Arnold noticed that things weren't as they should have been. Was this all because Helga wasn't around? But she had been absent before, and nobody had ever been affected. What was so different about this time?  
  
Too many thoughts in his head, he began to write to sort them out. He had learned before that by writing things down, he could understand them better. Get a better grip on reality. He scribbled furiously on his piece of notebook paper, allowing himself to daydream a bit so that he could get everything down.  
  
He looked down at the paper, and it read "Helga Pataki" over and over. He sighed. He missed her, he guessed. But this was different. He was more worried than anything. Why should he be? Unless something was really wrong....  
  
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Brainy didn't go to school that day. He stayed home to figure things out. Alright. Helga wasn't at school, and no one knew where she was. The only answer was to go to her house. Why hadn't he done this the day before? Well, he had gone to the Pataki household, but he didn't go inside. Yes, he would spy on Helga, but he would never break into her house to do it.  
  
He found it wasn't too hard to do. He only had to walk up to the door, and slowly push it open. Why wasn't the door locked? He slipped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. He looked around. Broken glass everywhere. In the hall, pictures of Olga where smashed on the floor. The trophy room was wrecked as well. Brainy began to wheeze fearfully. But he continued to search the house. In the kitchen, Miriam lay on the floor, not moving. Was she alive? He took a closer look. She seemed to be breathing. Someone had beaten her rather badly. There were bruises on the woman's face and neck.  
  
Someone had done this to her. Oh god, what about Helga?  
  
He went up the stairs, very afraid. What if whoever had done this was still inside the house? What if they were just waiting for someone to come inside... and... Oh god.  
  
He reached the top and looked around, he found Bob and Miriam's room. He looked inside, his heart beat faster and faster. And then he saw something that made him almost cry out. Bob lay on the ground, in a pool of his own blood. He had been shot. He was dead. Oh god, oh god, oh god. Why had Brainy come here? And why hadn't anyone noticed this? Why weren't the police at the house, investigating? Where was Helga?  
  
Shaking, Brainy continued to Helga's room. She wasn't there. He searched the rest of the house. Nothing. What had happened to Helga?  
  
He ran out of that house. He wanted to be far away from it. He ran down a block and to a pay phone. And he called the police.  
  
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Funny how you can be so obsessed, so worried your own problems, until something really horrible happens. Your problems then seem ridiculous and petty in comparison. Mr. Simmons' fourth grade class and the rest of Hillwood would learn this the hard way.  
******Woah... where did all of this come from? So sorry to you guys who don't like this sort of story. I wasn't really planning this, but I sort of like where it's going. We'll find out what happened to Helga soon.******  
  
******Yes, very short, but please review!****** 


	4. Changes Good and Bad, Is This the End?

****** Duuuuude I know there's a lot of peoples who are mad at me for being away for so long... So many unfinished stories, so little inspiration... This story is a bit of a disappointment to me, it sucks to say the least, but I hope I can get it moving again. So sorry folks for keeping you waiting for so long! I just can't find the sugar anywhere! Maybe I'll ask my fudder for a SLURPEE today, that may help, spleee******  
  
****** I don't really know what police do or say when they investigate a crime, or whatever, so I just made stuff up, is that ok with you guys? But I start with Rhonda and Curly, just because I don't think I mentioned them in the last chapper.******  
  
Where Are You Going, Chapper 4  
  
By Tano  
  
****** Disclaimer: If you stay up really late, staring at your underwear drawer, the sock pixies come to restock your underpants! IT'S TROO! Don't believe me? Then look for yourself! *steals Hey Arnold when peoples collapse to sleep* mwahahahaha! At last! Hey Arnold is MINE!!!! Wait! NO! Put that back! OW!!! GET THIS UNDERWEAR OFFA MY FACE!!! EWWW It had better be clean!!! *Sock Pixies run off with Hey Arnold* Nooo!!! *cries* I was so close... so close... (For those of you who are a bit slow, all this babble means that I don't own Hey Arnold. Apparently the Sock Pixies do.)******  
  
Back at school, Rhonda contemplated what she should do about Curly. She couldn't stand to see him so miserable. But what could she do about it? She wanted to ask Arnold, but she doubted he would help her in his current state of mind. Besides, she was too embarrassed to talk about it. So, she thought. What would Arnold tell her to do? She heard his voice inside her head, "Apologize to Curly. Tell him the truth." The truth? No deal, Arnold. Rhonda would never tell him the truth. She couldn't handle the truth. "Then just apologize to him." Arnold's voice whispered. Apologize? Should she just walk up to him and say, "Hey Curly, I'm sorry I said I hated you and yelled at you, I didn't mean it?" Where was the sense in that? And suppose she actually got up the nerve to do it. What would happen next? What if he didn't believe her? What if he did? She didn't know how to react either way.  
  
Rhonda looked over at Curly and sighed. Why did she have to care so much about what everyone else thought? Why couldn't she just tell the little creep that she liked him and get on with her life? Very funny, Rhonda. What was she thinking, get on with her life, yeah right. It just wasn't done. She couldn't be Rhonda and like Curly at the same time.  
  
But Arnold's voice continued to bug her. Stupid Arnold. Or was this her conscience talking? Stupid conscience, it sounded just like Arnold. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.  
  
She stood up and screamed, "SHUT UP!"  
  
The class turned to stare at her, all except for Arnold, Lila, and Curly who were too busy being weird to care about anything around them. Rhonda turned red.  
  
"Rhonda, is something wrong?" Mr. Simmons asked.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, sir." Rhonda laughed nervously and sat back down. Her conscience was driving her crazy. Maybe she should just listen to it.  
  
The rest of the class was watching a movie on "The Life of an Amoeba." Very interesting stuff indeed. Most of the other kids talked quietly amongst themselves, but a few, including Lila and Curly, stared at the screen. No one noticed as Rhonda pulled a chair up to Curly's desk in the back row.  
  
"Um, Curly?" she said, trying to get his attention, "I wanted to say something..." She had to force her words to come out. "Curly? Are you listening? I have something important to say."  
  
Curly turned to face her, slowly. She couldn't read his expression. He said nothing, so she continued.  
  
"Um... Well, I-I wanted to say..." she stalled for words. What was she trying to say, exactly? "Um... what I mean is... er..." Just say it already! She bit her lip for a moment. "I'm sorry I yelled at you and said that I hated you because I really don't. The truth is I-I lo- I mean... um... I lo-like you sorta. I mean, you're not so bad for a... I mean, I'm sorry."  
  
Curly just looked at her for a moment. Rhonda wished she knew what he was thinking. Had her apology worked? She tried to see any sign of emotion from him. Nothing. Just that same blank look on his face. She sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go back to my seat now." She slowly stood up.  
  
"Wait." Curly said, and Rhonda immediately sat back down.  
  
Curly smiled slightly, "So, you like me?" he asked.  
  
Rhonda turned red and she hoped Curly couldn't see it in the dark room. "Look, I'd prefer if no one found out..."  
  
"You DO like me!" Curly hugged her, and she was torn between screaming and grinning happily. So she did nothing at all. If she was quiet, maybe no one would notice. Problem. The movie was over and Simmons was getting ready to turn off the projector. Wait, maybe that was a good thing, it would be darker once the movie was over. She had time to get back to her seat as he turned the lights back on. Click. The projector was off. She had about 30 seconds to get away from Curly without hurting his feelings. Thinking fast, she slipped out of Curly's embrace, gave him a quick peck on the lips and ran back to her desk with 10 seconds to spare. The lights were on and nobody was the wiser.  
  
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"Speak more slowly, please sir, I can't understand you." the woman on the phone said.  
  
"I need an ambulance!" Brainy shouted into the receiver, trying hard not to wheeze too much, "A man was shot!"  
  
"Where did it happen?" she asked and he told her the address.  
  
"And where is the man?"  
  
"He's upstairs. His wife is in the kitchen, I think she is still alive. Their daughter is missing."  
  
"And what is your name, please?"  
  
"Brainy. Their daughter Helga hasn't been to school in a couple of days and I came to check up on her..."  
  
"Alright, stay there, the police and paramedics are on their way."  
  
"Thank you." He hung up the phone and ran back to the Pataki's stoop. Within minutes, the police arrived and began questioning him, and some went into the house to investigate.  
  
"Young man, this is a school day; what are you doing here at this time?" an officer asked him.  
  
"I came to see if my friend was alright. She's been absent from school and no one knows where she is." Brainy answered quickly.  
  
"So, you broke into the house?"  
  
"The door was sort of open. It's a good thing I did go inside the house, or no one would have realized that anything was wrong! Helga has been missing since yesterday and in all that time no one came along to check on them at all."  
  
"Did you touch anything when you were inside the house?"  
  
"No."  
  
The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics ran into the house. A moment later they had Miriam on a stretcher and were taking her to the hospital.  
  
"Well, the woman is still alive, but barely." A police officer said to another.  
  
"Who did this?" Brainy asked.  
  
"It's really none of your concern, young man." A female officer told him.  
  
"I need to know! I need to know what happened! Where is Helga?"  
  
"We're not sure what happened. We think the man may have attacked his wife and shot himself."  
  
Shot himself? "But what about their daughter? Where is Helga?" Brainy asked.  
  
"We don't know. We'll have people searching for her, but we don't know when or if she'll turn up. We really won't know anything until her mother wakes up and is ready to tell us what actually happened."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"But this really is none of your concern. Get back to school."  
  
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By the end of the day, news of Helga's disappearance spread around the city. Search parties were set up. People looked everywhere, but no one had any idea of where to begin to look. When Miriam finally recovered, she could remember nothing, or at least that was what she said. After contacting her older daughter, Olga (who was most hysterical upon hearing the news of the death of her father and disappearance of her dear baby sister), Miriam moved to Nebraska to live with her parents for a while. After nearly six months of searching, Helga was given up for dead. In a year, everyone tried to forget about her, but some just couldn't.  
  
Arnold was never very religious at all. But he prayed. Every day Arnold prayed that Helga would come back. But prayers didn't do much; he'd been praying for his parents to come back ever since he knew how to speak in full sentences. None of his prayers were ever answered, why should this one be? Optimism was all well and good, maybe if you were Eugene, but it got to a point where it was just stupid to believe in anything. How could he have thought otherwise? Was he so naïve? There weren't any happy endings. Just happy coincidence. And Arnold didn't have any of that.  
  
"Dear God. Please let Helga come back. We need her. Please? Let her come back alive and safe and happy. I know I said I wanted her to disappear and stuff, but I didn't mean it. I just want her to come back. Please God? That's all I want. I will never ask for anything else if I can just have this one thing, please. Bring Helga back to us safe and alive, please. Amen."  
  
Arnold didn't think he had a chance, but it couldn't hurt to ask anyway, could it?  
  
******Thank you for your time, please review, let me know what you think! Again I apologize for taking so long to write more of this! But I did get around to it eventually, I did. I think I just needed a break. My brain is working again, spleeee.******  
  
******ARE YOU STILL HERE??? REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!****** 


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